Muscle-Wasting Disease in Elephant Seal Pups
- Pathology
Abstract
A field study addressing causes of mortality in freshly dead northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris, Gill, 1866) was conducted on San Miguel Island, California, in February 2015. Necropsies were performed on 18 pups ranging in age from stillbirths to approximately 7 to 8 weeks. The primary gross diagnoses in these pups included trauma, myopathy, starvation/emaciation, infections, congenital anomalies, and perinatal mortality. However, 6 (33%) had a previously unrecognized myopathy characterized by multiple white streaks that were most obvious within the inner layer of the abdominal wall and the small innermost ventral intercostal muscles. Following histological examination, 2 more pups from San Miguel Island and 6 pups from The Marine Mammal Center (Sausalito, California) were found to have similar lesions. Histologically, the lesions within the skeletal muscles were characterized by a multifocal polyphasic, mild to severe, acute to subacute necrotizing myopathy with mineralization. Acute necrosis and degeneration characterized by pyknotic nuclei, eosinophilic cytoplasm and cytoplasmic vacuolization were found in smooth muscle myocytes within the urinary bladder and digestive system. Degeneration of myocytes was present in the tunica media of a few small- to medium-sized vessels and was characterized by a vacuolar degeneration and occasionally necrosis. This condition has been termed multifocal necrotizing myopathy. A cause of this myopathy was not identified.
Spraker, T.R., Kuzmina, T.A., Lyons, E.T., DeLong, R.L., Simeone, C. and Veeramachaneni, D.R., 2019. Multifocal Necrotizing Myopathy in Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris) Pups, San Miguel Island, California. Veterinary pathology, 56 (1, January), pp.143-151.
Related Publications
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Bottlenose dolphin\/bottlenose-dolphins-leaping-shutterstock.jpg","alt":"dolphins leaping out of the water","title":"Fresh Water Skin Disease in Dolphins","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/fresh-water-skin-disease-in-dolphins","label":"Research Paper"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Sea otter\/cropped-images\/sea-otter-grooming-head-shutterstock-22-86-3617-2826-1616709449.jpg","alt":"sea otter grooming","title":"Parasitic Skin Disease in Threatened Southern Sea Otters","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/parasitic-skin-disease-in-threatened-southern-sea-otters","label":"Research Paper"}
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Other species\/cropped-images\/galapagos-sea-lion-shutterstock-954-376-2988-2334-1617750524.jpg","alt":"Galapagos sea lion","title":"Mycoplasmas in Galapagos Sea Lions and Their Association with Other Respiratory Pathogens","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/occurrence-of-mycoplasmas-in-galapagos-sea-lions","label":"Research Paper"}
Mycoplasmas in Galapagos Sea Lions and Their Association with Other Respiratory Pathogens
Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Other species\/cropped-images\/stejnegers-beaked-whale-photo-c-marc-webber-0-0-949-742-1618440217.jpg","alt":"Stejneger's beaked whales","title":"Stejneger's Beaked Whale Strandings in Alaska, 1995\u20132020","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/publications\/stejnegers-beaked-whale-strandings-in-alaska-1995-2020","label":"Research Paper"}
Related News
{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Gray whale\/cropped-images\/gray-whale-golden-gate-bridge-by-darrin-allen-c-the-marine-mammal-center-noaa-permit-26532-470-3-2853-2229-1683822339.jpg","alt":"gray whale tail seen above the water with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background","title":"Experts Suspect Record-Setting Gray Whale Struck Multiple Times in San Francisco Bay","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/experts-suspect-record-setting-gray-whale-struck-multiple-times-in-san-francisco-bay","label":"Press Release","date":"2023-05-11 02:00:00"}
Experts Suspect Record-Setting Gray Whale Struck Multiple Times in San Francisco Bay
May 11, 2023
Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Gray whale\/cropped-images\/gray-whale-bolinas-beach-photo-c-the-marine-mammal-center-10-0-4424-3456-1680117692.jpg","alt":"a dead gray whale on the shore","title":"Los Angeles Times: First Dead Whale of 2023 Washes Up on California Beach","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/los-angeles-times-first-dead-whale-of-2023-washes-up-on-california-beach","label":"In the News","date":"2023-04-03 02:00:00"}
Los Angeles Times: First Dead Whale of 2023 Washes Up on California Beach
April 3, 2023
Read More{"image":"\/Misc\/Graphics\/Meta images\/gray-whale-bolinas-beach-photo-c-the-marine-mammal-center-logo.png","alt":"a dead gray whale on a sandy beach","title":"Blunt Force Trauma Due to Vessel Strike Suspected Cause of Death for Gray Whale at Bolinas Beach","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/blunt-force-trauma-due-to-vessel-strike-suspected-cause-of-death-for-gray-whale-at-bolinas-beach","label":"Press Release","date":"2023-03-30 02:00:00"}
Blunt Force Trauma Due to Vessel Strike Suspected Cause of Death for Gray Whale at Bolinas Beach
March 30, 2023
Read More{"image":"\/Animals\/Wild\/Humpback whale\/cropped-images\/whale-tail-with-bridge-and-ships-shutterstock-3-7-4898-3826-1663722256.jpg","alt":"whale tails visible above water under the Golden Gate Bridge with shipping traffic in the distance","title":"Whale Safe \u2013 an AI-enabled System to Prevent Ship Collisions with Whales \u2013 to Launch off the San Francisco Coastline","link_url":"https:\/\/www.marinemammalcenter.org\/news\/whale-safe-to-launch-off-the-san-francisco-coastline","label":"Press Release","date":"2022-09-21 04:00:00"}
Whale Safe – an AI-enabled System to Prevent Ship Collisions with Whales – to Launch off the San Francisco Coastline
September 21, 2022
Read More